5 Cheap Canadian Stocks to Buy Before the Market Notices

These five under-the-radar Canadian stocks pair solid execution with reasonable valuations and catalysts that could wake the market up.

Amy Legate-Wolfe

Author Bio Amy became interested in investing in 2018 after having her first daughter. After receiving a masters degree in journalism from Western University, she became frustrated that the finance industry remained a confusing place for Canadians like her: new parents, millennials, and other young people who needed to understand their finances. Now, Amy focuses on tech companies and renewable energy for growth opportunities, coupling that with long-term investing strategies and equities. She also provides investors with a daily newsletter, Canada Stock Digest, for daily market updates. Her work can also be found at Canada's National Observer, where she writes on the business side of climate action. Before joining Motley Fool Canada, Amy wrote for major news organizations including HuffPost, CTVNews.ca, and CBC. When she’s not researching investing strategies, Amy’s time is pretty much monopolized by her two wild daughters, but in what little spare time she has she loves to do yoga, go on walks with her dog, and travel with her husband. Social Media Follow Amy on LinkedIn and Canada Stock Digest. Favorite Investment Quote “October: This is one of the particularly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.” – Mark Twain

Published April 21, 4:40 pm EDT

Cheap Canadian stocks that the market has not fully noticed yet usually share a few traits. The business keeps executing, earnings stay firmer than the share price suggests, and some clear catalyst sits just ahead, whether that is margin improvement, acquisitions, a backlog, or stronger demand. Furthermore, a Canadian stock doesn’t need to look broken to be cheap. Sometimes it just needs solid numbers, a reasonable multiple, and a story that has not fully clicked with investors yet.

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FTT

Finning International (TSX: FTT) looks like one of those quiet compounders. It sells and services Caterpillar equipment across Canada, South America, and the U.K., so it has exposure to mining, construction, and infrastructure without depending on just one market. Over the last year, it kept building momentum, and its 2025 results showed why.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose 6% to $2.7 billion, full-year revenue climbed 7% to $10.6 billion, and backlog hit a record $3.1 billion. Yet the stock still trades at about 21 times trailing earnings, which does not look stretched for a business with scale, cash flow, and a big support business behind it.

HPS

Hammond Power Solutions (TSX: HPS.A) has turned into one of the more interesting industrial names on the TSX. It makes dry-type transformers, and that puts it right in the middle of electrification, grid upgrades, and data centre expansion. That theme got even hotter over the last year.

In its latest results, HPS posted fourth-quarter sales of $254.1 million and full-year sales of $898.3 million, up 13.9% from 2024. Annual adjusted earnings per share (EPS) reached $6.81, and backlog was 122% higher than a year earlier. The Canadian stock trades at roughly 29.2 times trailing earnings, so it is not dirt cheap, but it still looks like a stock many investors may be underestimating.

SJ

Stella-Jones (TSX: SJ) supplies utility poles, railway ties, and other essential infrastructure products, which gives it a steady and practical business model. Over the last year, it added Locweld and Brooks, expanding its utility platform, and it also announced a new U.S. steel lattice facility to tap into infrastructure demand.

For 2025, sales reached $3.49 billion, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) hit $661 million, and earnings per share rose to $6.09. With the Canadian stock trading at about 14.5 times trailing earnings, Stella-Jones looks like a name the market respects, but maybe not enough given its execution and long runway.

MTL

Mullen Group (TSX: MTL) is a transportation and logistics company, so it has had to deal with a soft Canadian economy and pricing pressure. That is exactly why it looks interesting now. Revenue still rose to $2.13 billion in 2025, helped by acquisitions, even as margins stayed under pressure.

Management has already laid out a 2026 plan calling for $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion in revenue and about $365 million in operating income before depreciation and amortization. The Canadian stock trades at about 16 times trailing earnings, which feels reasonable for a company that could benefit quickly when freight conditions improve. This one has more cyclical risk, but it also has more rebound potential.

BIF

Birchcliff Energy (TSX: BIR) rounds out the list with a more classic value angle. It’s a natural gas producer focused on the Montney in Alberta, and over the last year, it has kept lowering costs while lifting production. In 2025, it generated adjusted funds flow of $422.8 million, up 79% from 2024, while full-year revenue came in at about $707.2 million and net income reached $64.9 million.

Management’s 2026 plan targets average production of 81,000 to 84,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) and keeps a five-year outlook that points to 105,000 boe/d by 2030. The Canadian stock trades at about 24.9 times trailing earnings, which looks high on an earnings basis, but cash flow, production growth, and LNG-linked gas demand make the story more appealing than that headline number suggests.

Bottom line

None of these Canadian stocks looks like a meme trade or a market darling. That is the point. Finning, Hammond Power, Stella-Jones, Mullen, and Birchcliff all have real businesses, recent results that held up well, and reasons to look stronger over the next year. If you want Canadian stocks to buy before the market gets more excited, this is a pretty good place to start.